Boris Johnson makes Brexit statement

Our live coverage of Monday's latest Brexit developments has ended for the night.

Read our full report here, and we'll see you tomorrow.

British lawmakers swiftly panned UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's statement Monday night.

"What was that @BorisJohnson statement all about? His press people had spun that he’d threaten to call an election. Has he changed his mind? More hot air, again," Tom Watson, deputy leader of the opposition Labour party, tweeted.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon suggested that it was yet another sign that Johnson had not devised any new deal at all.

"Plainly obvious from that statement that Johnson has no plan to get a deal. If MPs blink tomorrow, he will drive the UK off the no deal cliff on 31 October. He must not get away with it," Sturgeon tweeted.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he was determined to push forward with getting Brexit done by October 31 -- no ifs or buts -- and would not ask Brussels for a further delay.

“There are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay [Brexit]. We’re leaving on the 31stof October no ifs or buts,” Johnson said in a statement Monday outside Downing Street, as a crowd of protesters chanted outside.

Before warning MPs against thwarting a no-deal Brexit, Johnson said that he believed talks with Brussels had progressed in recent weeks and that "chances of a deal are rising."

He put this down to Britain's "clear vision for the future relationship with the EU" and the fact that the government is "utterly focused on strengthening our position to get out, come what may."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson dropped a strong hint that a general election could be on the cards should opposition and Conservative rebel MPs attempt to block a no-deal Brexit in Parliament this week.

The Prime Minister added that he hoped MPs would not force another "pointless delay" to what Britons voted for, warning that it would kill any negotiation power the the UK wields with the EU.

"If they do they will plainly chop the legs from under the UK position and make any further negotiations impossible," he said.

“I don’t want an election, you don’t want an election,” Johnson said.

Under UK law, if Johnson wants to call an election, he must get the support of two-thirds of lawmakers in the House of Commons.

The details of a bill aiming to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson from taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal have been revealed.

Labour MP Hilary Benn, one of the lawmakers leading the charge to seize control of the Brexit process, released the text of The European Union (Withdrawal) (no 6) Bill, which attempts to prevent a no-deal Brexit on October 31, unless Parliament consents.

"The Bill gives the Government time either to reach a new agreement with the European Union at the European Council meeting next month or to seek Parliament’s specific consent to leave the EU without a deal," Benn tweeted.

"If neither of these two conditions have been met, however, by 19th October – ie the day after the European Council meeting concludes – then the Prime Minister must send a letter to the President of the European Council requesting an Article 50 extension until 31 January 2020."

"The Bill has cross-party support from MPs who believe that the consequences of No Deal for the economy and the country would be highly damaging. No Deal is not in the national interest."

A group of opposition and rebel Conservative lawmakers are expected to back the legislation as early as Tuesday.

Boris Johnson is determined that the option of a no-deal Brexit should remain on the table, in order to strengthen the UK's negotiating position.

Rebels from Johnson's Conservative party have been told that if they vote in favor of the emergency no-deal legislation on Tuesday, they will be thrown out of the parliamentary party and barred from standing as a Conservative at any future election. Since Johnson only has a parliamentary majority of one, such a move is seen as making a general election more likely.

David Gauke, a former justice secretary and key member of the group of Conservative rebels, accused the Prime Minister of taking a "confrontational" approach. "I don't think there seems to be a huge effort to persuade people to support the government this week. I think they seem to be quite prepared for there to be a rebellion, then to purge those who support the rebellion from the party," he told the BBC.

Speculation is mounting that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson could call an early election in an effort to thwart rebels within his own party who want to stop him taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal, according to UK media reports.

Rumors of an imminent announcement of swirled after Johnson unexpectedly called a meeting of his Cabinet for Monday evening, the UK's Press Association reported, on the eve of what's expected to be a tumultuous first day of the new parliamentary term.

A group of opposition and rebel Conservative lawmakers are expected to table legislation on Tuesday that would force Johnson to seek an extension to the Brexit process if he fails to agree a new deal with the EU.